Covid 19 coronavirus: virus found in China in imported squid packaging from Russia

Chinese authorities have reportedly detected coronavirus in the packaging of imported squid from Russia.

Health authorities in Fuyu, in the northeastern province of Jilin, made the announcement on the city’s official WeChat account on Sunday, Reuters reports.

Fuyu’s health bureau urged anyone who has purchased the squid from local frozen seafood wholesale store Sanjia Deda between Aug. 24 and Aug. 31 to get tested for Covid-19.

He said one of the packages arrived via the provincial capital, Changchun, where the local Covid-19 prevention office said the squid had been imported from Russia by a company in the city of Hunchun.

According to Reuters, Chinese customs officials promised on Friday to suspend imports from companies for a week if frozen food products tested positive for coronavirus, with bans for a month after three or more positive tests.

It comes after local authorities in two Chinese cities said last month that they had found traces of Covid-19 in imported frozen food.

In one case, a warning was issued after a sample taken from frozen chicken wings that had arrived in Shenzhen from Brazil was reported to be contaminated.

Similar concerns were raised in New Zealand about the possibility that frozen foods are responsible for the nation’s second wave.

However, to date there does not appear to be credible evidence that the virus is transmitted through food packaging, the World Health Organization said last month.